Deceit
by Mika Nakane
Summary: Izaya had always been a good impersonator. And who said Kasuka was the only actor in the family? Izaya and Shizuo never meant to continue their performance. But they did. And now they can't stop.
1. Chapter 1

Deceit

"Izaya."

Shizuo called the name softly, without any of the malice you'd expect it to have from their constant fights.

"Shizu-chan?"

Izaya looked up, not putting up any of the defenses he would have when they were in public. He allowed himself to be vulnerable, a rare sight to anyone.

Shizuo walked over, placing a hand on Izaya's arm. "Today's fight seemed tough. Are you okay?"

If you had asked anyone who knew the informant, they would have guaranteed that Izaya would respond with a teasing smirk.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My arm was hurting earlier when it collided with the telephone pole, but it's better now." Izaya responded calmly. "You're improving.". This line was spoken in an approving tone. Shizuo sighed.

"Of course. We do this almost everyday.". He sat down on the couch next to Izaya, who then laid his head on Shizuo's shoulder. "When are we finally going to stop? Aren't you satisfied yet?"

Izaya gave him a regretful smile. "I never intended for it to go this far. We can't stop now. It would be out of character for both of us. I'm sorry, Shizu-chan."

Who said that Kasuka was the only actor in the family? That was where this all started. A simple play. Izaya had been chosen for the role of the prince in their play of Snow White; Shizuo had been the hunter.

Izaya had suggested that they practice their acting skills. The two were close friends, after all, so they weren't going out of their way to spend time together. In a way, Izaya was a perfectionist. He wanted his acting to be superior, and Shizuo didn't mind playing along.

Their first "act" had been a calm-cute relationship. Izaya brought out all his innocence into becoming Psyche, and Shizuo controlled his strength to become a peaceful Tsugaru. It was fun for them, but almost no one else noticed.

Wanting to be noticed, they chose another two characters. Izaya tried to make his character the one he would be for the play; a prince. He acted superior and even haughty; Hibiya. To match, Shizuo acted as Delic, confident and flirty. They earned a few odd looks from Izaya's demands, but otherwise, no one noticed.

In a final attempt to stand out, they acted as their own polar opposite. Izaya became Hachimenroppi and hated humans, while Shizuo became Tsukishima and acted as gentle and clumsy as he could possibly be. This time a few rumors went around, but most of the students seemed to lose interest after their previous acts.

Izaya was angry that him, their God, wasn't being noticed. Even Shizuo became a little upset; he was proud of his acting! They finally made the decision to act as enemies. They were delighted when it worked; everyone noticed and fully believed their "act". But to their dismay, no one doubted it for a second. It was _too _good.

When Izaya acted like himself a week later, rumors started spreading like wildfire. He was questioned numerous time of his different personality. One girl had asked if he'd gotten amnesia.

On his side, Shizuo was receiving similar remarks. The two were quite angry at this point. Decisions came quickly to adopt their act for a while to satisfy their classmates. Therefore, for the next 3 months, Izaya and Shizuo fought constantly, inventing insults ("flea", "protozoan") and continuously proclaiming their hated for the other. Eventually, their fighting escalated, from simple hand-to-hand combat to full out battles with street signs and knives. The entirety of Ikebukuro began to know their name; everyone recognized them immediately.

When they graduated, they tried to stop their act. They really did. But no one adjusted. Whenever Shizuo came to greet Izaya, the pedestrians quickly moved aside in order not to get hurt. Shinra refused to allow them both in his house at the same time in fear that they would annihilate the place, and even the police learned not to mess with them. They were now restricted by the expectations of the public. Not fighting was no longer an option.

So they continued to fight, although they didn't put any real effort into it. They tried to find amusement from their "games", and they both agreed that it was about as fun as taking out the trash. The two fought; enough to keep citizens satisfied, but not enough to seriously harm the other. So when Izaya had injured his arm in their most recent battle, Shizuo was concerned.

"I wouldn't, but you're going to keep getting hurt like this, Izaya. I don't want to harm you. Can't we just tell them that it was all an act?" Shizuo pleaded. His hand stroked Izaya's cheek gently.

"We can't. They won't believe us, anyway."

"Then, we can tell them that we became friends. It's not that hard to believe. There's gotta be some way to put a stop to this!" his eyes guiltily fell upon Izaya's arm. Izaya seemed to consider it, but shook his head after a few minutes.

"It's not possible. I'm really, really sorry, Shizu-chan." he apologized again, putting his arms around his best friend and supposed enemy.

"I know."

**A/N This was an idea that came to me randomly. If you want, I'll make another chapter, but it's originally intended to be a short fanfic.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I'm coming in~!" Izaya called, pushing open the door.

Shinra jumped into action. "No, wait, don't!"

Unfortunately, he was too late, and the door opened before he could protest. Izaya gasped a little at the scene in front of him. Shinra stood in front of him with his arms extended, a clear attempt at stopping him from entering. Behind him was Shizuo. He had bandages around his torso and a surprised expression.

Izaya's first thought was to go and see the blond, ask if he was okay. But when he remembered that Shinra was in the room, he stopped his urges and forced a smirk.

"I wonder who managed to slay the monster at last~ I would want to congratulate them!" he said with fake happiness.

Shinra looked at Shizuo for confirmation, and when the blond scoffed, he turned back to Izaya. "Shizuo here was shot by a panicked member of the Awatsu-kai. You wouldn't happen to know them, would you Izaya?" Shinra asked.

"Hm, remind me to congratulate him later. Although if I knew a simple gun could almost take down the protozoan, I would have tried it sooner~"

"Izaya, you should really at least try to get along with Shizuo! The last time you both were here at the same time, the entire living room was destroyed!" Shinra sighed.

Shizuo made eye contact with Izaya, almost talking telepathically.

_Should we pretend to fight?_

_No, you're injured so use that as an excuse. But leave now, incase Shinra gets suspicious._

_Alright._

"Shinra, I've got to go, Tom-senpai needs me. And, I can't stand the stench of the flea here in the same room." Shizuo said, standing up and heading to the door. Shinra nodded.

"Take it easy with the fighting, if you move around too much the bandages will come undone." Shinra instructed. Shizuo raised his hand in reply, closing the door behind him.

Shinra turned to Izaya, inwardly groaning. "And why are _you_ here?"

Izaya rolled up his sleeve. "I injured it accidently."

"Yeah, right. Shizuo finally landed a hit on you, huh? I wonder how he'd react if he knew..." Shinra trailed off.

"No, it really was an accident. Besides, I don't want to give him that satisfaction." Izaya reasoned with a smirk. _I don't want him to feel bad about it. I know he'll blame himself, even though it was my fault. _

"Yeah, yeah, as you say. Hm..." Shinra gently inspected Izaya's arm. "It's swollen. Keep your hand up for a while, above your heart. I'll get some ice, wait here."

Izaya complied, and raised his arm while Shinra exited the room. The grin was starting to ache now, so he allowed it to drop for as long as he was alone. Settling for a blank expression, he sighed and took out his phone single-handedly. Izaya mindlessly watched the chatrooms on the Dollars website before Shinra came back.

"We were out of ice, so I had to make some," he explained, "Put this on your arm."

Quickly, Izaya reverted back to his original grin and took the icepack.

"Why thank you, Shinra~ Though if all it took was an ice pack, I could have done it myself..." he trailed off, remembering to get a hold of himself at the last moment.

"Then, I'll be off~" Izaya called, and bounced out of the doctor's house. He didn't wait for a reply, because he was sure Shinra wouldn't give one.

"Yeah. Keep the ice there, and come again if it turns blue!" Shinra shouted out from the living room. Izaya smiled honestly, the doctor was being kind today. However, the moment a few people passed, his old smirk was all that remained.

* * *

"Namie-san, do I sense you slowing down on that filing?" Izaya taunted. Namie glared but made an effort to work faster.

"Well, I'll be back by 5, so no slacking off. Bye, Namie-san~" Izaya sang, and Namie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

Izaya hummed happily. Of course, it was false; he was about to do what he dreaded most. However, he hadn't been to Ikebukuro in a few days now, and the citizens were probably wondering what happened to the daily brawls between the informant and the bodyguard.

"Yeah, that was the last one, Shizuo, thanks for helping." Tom said to the blond, and turned away. Shizuo smiled, and decided to go home for the day. That is, until he saw the raven.

Izaya gave a short nod, and Shizuo exploded.

"IIIIZZZAAAYYYAAA-KUUUUNN, what're you doing in Ikebukuro?" Shizuo said, storming over. Izaya smirked. The pedestrians were staring already, slightly comforted at the sight of the two again. Nevertheless, they moved towards the sides of the street in order not to be in harm's way.

If you looked closely at the two when they were fighting, you would notice that both seemed incredibly regretful and didn't even put any killing intent behind their strikes.

But no one looked closely. And that was what mattered.

**A/N Sorry that this is so incredibly late. Thanks for the reviews ^_^ So I will continue it- probably only about 5-6 chapters, though. **

**Reviews are loved! :) **


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